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A hard day’s work

Yesterday was a perfect day. To start, I picked up a large box filled with building materials I had been waiting for. Those contents shaped my plans for the day.

Having received the flooring trim for the dining room, I laid the floor entirely.

detail of dining room floor

dining room floor in black walnut with trim

Then I moved on to tiling the kitchen walls. I had a hard time deciding on the kitchen walls. My Brownstone had wallpaper & wainscot. But after watching a few period dramas (I get much inspiration from these) I chose a white tile with black diamond corners. It it a flooring tile, but fits perfectly for a wall treatment. For the area behind the stove I used an embossed brick paper, which I intend to scuff & blacken. To finish the kitchen, I glued my new plate rack above the door to the butler’s pantry.

Dumb waiter coming along

tiling the kitchen walls

progression in the butler's pantry

Then I moved on to putting up wainscot in the entry & main hall. This was tricky: I had to cut the stairs into the wainscot because of its thickness. I also reinforced the floor & wall under the stair to support the overall structure. In the end it will require some subtle filling to smooth it all out.

Finally, I secured my drawing room landing: there are 2 steps up from the entry hall to a landing where a bay window is. I plan on placing a secretary there with 2 great pillars I purchased from Sue Cook. The landing has 2 steps back down into the drawing room. I decided to also lay black walnut floor on the landing top, but intend to paint the stairs & vertical sides to match the trim in the drawing room.